Blog Entries

Green Summer Cleaning

Summer in Wisconsin is about the only time the weather is nice enough to play outside, and the last place anyone wants to be is stuck inside cleaning. So, typically I just do some quick dusting, a little scrubbing and wiping, and some sweeping and vacuuming and call it good.

That being said, if you’re anything like me, you’re probably beginning to notice some cobwebs on the ceilings, dirt in the corners and clutter building up around the house. Suffice it to say, it’s time for a good, deep summer cleaning. But before you load up on household cleaners, trash bags and paper towels, check out this Room-By-Room Green Cleaning Guide for tips on how to clean your house without making a huge impact on the environment.

The guide gave me a lot of great ideas, like organizing things into piles: one to keep, one to donate, one to recycle and one for the garbage. The guide also advised using reusable cloths and spraying cleaners directly onto those cloths instead of the surfaces I plan to clean (which reduces the amount of product I use and also ensures the cleaner ends up where I intend it to go).

Now that I’m equipped with the knowledge and supplies, I can get started cleaning – or maybe I’ll just save it for a rainy day.

Have some great green cleaning tips of your own? Please share!

Image courtesy of Google Images.

About Theresa Lehman

Dedicating her entire career to sustainable practice, Theresa has worked on more than 50 projects seeking LEED® certification utilizing the LEED®-NC, LEED®-CI, LEED®-CS, LEED®-EBOM, and LEED® for Schools green building rating systems. She has successfully certified projects that have earned LEED® certification at all four award levels including: Certified, Silver, Gold and Platinum. Her portfolio of LEED® projects includes many “Wisconsin firsts” such as the first State of Wisconsin LEED® certified project, the first healthcare facility, the first LEED®-EBOM Schools, the first LEED® for Schools project and the first zero-net energy / carbon neutral project–the Aldo Leopold Legacy Center–the “greenest building on the planet” according to Rick Fedrizzi, President, CEO & Founding Chair, U.S. Green Building Council.